A Brief Chat With Jenny Simpson

Sep 9, 2011

Reported By Peter GambacciniPhoto by Jiro Mochizuki/Photo RunJenny Simpson won the 1500-meter run at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu in 4:05.40, becoming the first American woman to win the event at the Championships since Mary Decker

Slaney in 1983. Simpson, the former Jenny Barringer, was second (behind Morgan Uceny) in the 1500 at the 2011 USATF Championships. Her 4:28.60 mile indoors in New York in January is the fastest time of the year by an American, she won the 3000 and the mile at the USATF Indoor Championships in March, and her season also included a 15:11.49 for 5000 meters at Mt. SAC on April 15. Simpson, attended high school in Florida (she was a Foot Locker Regional Cross Country champ twice) and was a collegian at the University of Colorado. She holds the American record of 9:12.50 for the 3000-meter steeplechase and the collegiate record of 3:59.90 for 1500 meters; she has run 15:01.70 indoors for 5000 meters. Simpson was a three-time NCAA champion in the steeplechase (and an NCAA Indoor champ in the "flat" 3000) and won USA titles in the steeplechase in 2007 and 2009. She was ninth in the steeplechase at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and fifth at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Simpson now trains at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with Coach Juli Benson (formerly Henner).Simpson spoke with reporters by teleconference from Italy, where she is running a 1500 in Rieti on Saturday. She is also doing a 1500 at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels on September 16. "When people talk about being a part of something that's greater than themselves, I feel like this (her World Championship) is a perfect example. What I achieved weekend has been really exciting and kind of shocking for me and a lot of my team," she said in an opening statement, "but it's also been a really humbling experience for me because the joy I have in what I do often comes from being able to share that and knowing that so many other people are enjoying what I do. And so just the huge influx of congratulations and support from so many people that have been a part of my life and a part of my career, that's been the greatest joy of this accomplishment."What was the last thing your coach said to you before the (World Championships final) race?Jenny Simpson: That last thing my coach probably said to me was "stay out of trouble." The 1500 meters is probably the most prone to have pile-ups and have falls .... We're aware of how good everyone is, and that means how close everyone is going to be throughout the race. And it proved to be that way in our final. So that's probably the last thing she told me. Going out and having fun, I don't have to be reminded of that. I love what I do.Tell us how physical that race was. It looked like it was pretty close for most of the race.JS: Almost everyone in that field is capable of running what ended up being the winning time. And so what that means is that everybody's within striking distance with 400 meters to go. So it definitely was physical because the group was so tightly packed. Another thing that adds to some of the physicalness of the race is what's unique to the World Championships, is that we run three rounds. That adds another element to the race that we wouldn't experience just going out and running hard in one event. This is the third race in five days, so a lot of people are tired. People are excited about getting to the final. There's a lot at stake. So it was definitely a tactical and aggressive race, but that's always to be expected in a World Championships.Do you think this was an example of the final falling at exactly the right time in your return to sharpness?JS: Yeah, I'm a strong believer that things happen for a reason, and so my season got delayed, and as a result of that, I think maybe that worked in my favor, that the World Championships fell right when I was coming to the best weeks of my training. I come from a distance background, and so having a lot of strength helped when you do have to take a little bit of time off like I did earlier in the season when I got sick. It kind of helps you hold on to some of your fitness. And going to the three rounds, I think I was just really strong, and like you said, the sharpness came at just the right time of the year for me.Did you feel like a 4:05 race might be best for your medal chances considering the kick that you have? Would something like a 4:02 race, everyone running at that level, possibly not have been as much to your advantage?JS: I really felt like I was prepared for any way that the race went out. I have proven myself to be really fast in the 1500 in the past. I wasn't able to showcase that yet this year, but I know that I physically have the ability to run out front during a really fast race. But the World Championships, by the nature of the rounds, seldom produces a whole pack of people that run those really fast times. I anticipated because of the way that the Diamond Leagues have been won throughout the season that there was going to be a group of people there at the end. It really did play out that way but I was prepared to keep contact with the pack whether it went out slow or it went out at 64 pace (per 400 meters) the whole way.Talk about how you developed as a miler and what you've done under Juli (Benson, her coach) to further what started at CU (the University of Colorado).JS: My current coach is Juli Benson. She was the person who I really believe saw the greatest potential for me in the 1500 meters. And I moved to her as a coach because has a lot of experience in the 1500 meters as an athlete. She was part of the Olympic team in 1996, and also because she has a lot of experience coaching middle distances. Coming from a distance background, I know what it's like to go out and run a lot of miles but she really highly specialized in that middle distance discipline and what it takes to take somebody with a lot of strength and infuse those really important tactical skills and the type of speed you need to be able to close. So I've been doing a lot of workouts that I'm unaccustomed to. I think it took my body six to eight months to even make that transition. But the stimulus is obviously really successful and an important thing for me to go through. Eighteen months later, due to that tutelage, I feel like I'm very much a similar athlete to what I was coming up through my college years but definitely much more sharp and much more tactically and mentally prepared for specifically the 1500-meter race.Obviously you are a great steeplechaser. Do you have any thought of going back to that?JS: I really enjoy the steeple and I had a lot of momentum going into the 2009 season when I was able to produce that really great PR in the (Worlds) final. It's an event that I think is a large part of the character of my racing style now. It's very dynamic and it's the type of race where a lot of times you have to take control because people don't run in packs as much as they do in the 1500 or in the 5k. And so returning to it would be a really exciting and fun thing for me. But it's important for me in my career to do what's best for my body and what's best for making teams and earning medals. And so that's really a discussion I'm going to have to have for my coach, especially as we entertain what we're going to do for 2012, which is a really important year obviously.So I'll sit down with my coach and we'll make that decision in the fall. But one thing that will be different in the coming year from past years is that I'll probably make that decision earlier and then highly specialize in what I choose to race, whether it be the steeple or the 1500 meters, and then do less dabbling in the other distances.Both you and Matthew Centrowitz (the American who won World championships bronze in the men's 1500) were in your first major international championships meets in that event, and yet both of you ran remarkably calmly and coolly and stayed out of trouble. There's all this talk about resurgence in American distance running, and the ability to run in championship races rather than just run fast at an invitational is a big part of that. Is this totally individual or can you sense that there's a generation of people (Americans) who are just more comfortable in that situation?JS: I think at every level in U.S. running, the middle distances are getting more competitive, and that's really helping people like Matt and I understand what task is ahead of us when we get to World Championships. The personal bests and the records at the NCAA level are faster than they've been. They're taken huge leaps in the last five years, and at the U.S. level, making the team is more difficult now in the middle distances than it's been in a long time. And so I think that just raising the bar at every level is just something that's helped Matt and I .... I think Matt's an incredibly calm and talented young man and I just think he has an incredibly bright future.Crossing that finish line (in Daegu), you became a hero in the eyes of young girls. Who did you look up to growing up, and did you call on any of this inspiration during your race or in your training leading up to it?JS: I've been really close to my Dad my whole life. He's been somebody who's really been inspiring to me and somebody that I feel like I've always been able to look up to. Whenever there was a challenge ahead of him or something difficult, my dad isn't somebody standing up on a podium in front of thousands of people, but he always conducts himself with an enormous amount of dignity and that's something I've respected in him ever since I was a child. So having that example in my life, knowing what dignity and what grace looks like, has been a wonderful thing for me as a human being and throughout my career.But actually in the race, I did not have a really great relationship with my younger sister growing up. We were just typical young girls that are a similar age and we had a very normal sibling rivalry. But she and I have become much, much closer as we've gotten older. Specifically in the race, who was I thinking of? It would definitely be my younger sister. She's serving in the U.S. Army right now and she is just an incredible example to me of how if you're willing to work hard and you have a dream, even if you're not doing it in front of thousands of people as I have the privilege of doing, you can lead a really productive and wonderful and happy life. And I'm really proud of her for demonstrating that for me.When you graduated from high school in Florida, what did you think would be reasonable for you to expect to accomplish as a runner?JS: When I left Florida to go to Colorado, I was definitely naive about what the collegiate running scene was like. At Colorado, I wanted to work my way up to being the best person on that team. I think every time I've been introduced to a new team situation, that's been my goal - to really be a leader on the team, be the best person on the team, and really take in the best practices of all the people around me. I think that's been a great way for me personally to attack everything that I've gone after .... all the way on up until you find yourself at the top of a podium at a World Championships and you kind of wonder "man, where did the time go and how did I get here?"Regarding the Olympics, how does your victory (in Daegu) change your expectations?JS: I feel like what this World Championships changes for me is that winning a medal is no longer just kind of this figurative thing out there that I'm hoping maybe someday to accomplish. You know, I have a medal sitting in my hotel room, and that just seems so unreal to me. What it changes is that going into London, I have so much more faith and so much more belief that it's possible and that whatever race I do run, I belong in the demeanor of training with a purpose to medal.

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